Reducing carbon emissions is no longer enough to reduce the effects of climate change, making climate adaptation – the process of adjustment to climate change and entailing hazards – necessary. Cristina Bernal Aparicio takes a look at Spain's climate adaptation plan, its flaws, and its potential.
The impact of climate change is especially concentrated in urban areas and is projected to increase in the future. Using climate information in urban planning, however, can build resilient cities and enable sustainable development. By Saskia Buchholz from the German Meteorological Service.
When disasters hit, cultural heritage is often perceived as something passive, something hit by destruction. Conservation architect and risk management expert Rohit Jigyasu argues for a different perception: one that acknowledges the decisive role urban cultural heritage can play both in the prevention and in the outcome of natural disaster, making it an active component of urban resilience.
The 2019 SDG Summit will mark the first quadrennial review of the 2030 Agenda. It assesses where we are, how far we have come since its adoption – and what needs to be done, as we enter the next decade, to achieve the ambitious global goals to leave no one and no place behind.
At the Climate Action Summit, it is widely acknowledged that cities are key in addressing climate change. Yet, sufficient funding for necessary measures is often hard to come by. Barbara Buchner presents some new and promising approaches of mobilising finance for building resilient urban infrastructure.
With the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit up ahead next week, UN-Habitat's Executive Director Maimunah Mohd Sharif explains why ambitious climate action depends on cities and presents four new initiatives, which will be launched at the Summit.
Current design standards for building infrastructure are based on outdated, historic climate data. In the face of climate change, planning, operation, maintenance, and management of infrastructure need to be revised, says urban environmental planner Riya Rahiman.
An increasing number of droughts, floods, and other hazards mean that more and more people are deciding to migrate. Ritwika Basu describes what is needed at the governance level to deal with climate change induced migration.
COP24 in Katowice, Poland, has come to an end. Environmental journalist Lou del Bello sums up what its outcomes hold for cities and regions.
At COP24, India-based Sheela Patel from SPARC talked to Lou del Bello about how climate change affects people in informal settlements the most – and about strategies to address their special needs.
It can no longer be denied that climate change has severe effects on our daily lives. As a response, the City of Cape Town has developed a policy that acknowledges climate change impacts as a pressing social and economic issue.
Constructing a house is a rite of passage to adulthood in most peri-urban areas of Mozambique. While it is common for people to build their own homes using traditional techniques, it often reproduces vulnerability as most of these self-built houses are easily damaged even by low or medium magnitude weather events. How can resilient construction techniques prompt behaviour change in house construction and generate income?
The agricultural sector of the municipality of Dumangas in the Philippines is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. We spoke to its mayor Ronaldo Golez about strategies to become more resilient and to empower local communities.
Known as a technology hub, Guadalajara is Mexico’s answer to Silicon Valley. No wonder then that the city is in the process of transforming itself into a smart city. URBANET talked to Mario Arauz, Director of Government Innovation and Intelligent Cities, about Guadalajara’s take on the smart city concept.
Windhoek—the capital city of Namibia, the most arid country in Sub-Saharan Africa—has long met its severe water challenges through innovation. But its growing population is increasing its demand for water while climate change exacerbates scarce supplies. On the occation of World Water Day 2018, Pierre van Rensburg highlights the city's innovative augmentation strategies to keep the crisis from becoming a catastrophe.
